I actually have one of the pull-out spice drawers where the spices lay down face up, and I love it. It doesn't seem to me that it is a waste of space at all because it is in a drawer that is not much deeper than the rack and the spices. And it is so easy to see the labels to know what is what.

I have a regular pullout allocated to spices -- my bottles all stand upright. Each has a round label on the top. Easy to see and you can get more in that way, if your drawer is deep enough to have them stand up. The only problem is they tend to move around a bit so don't stay as neatly organized as in a rack. The upside is, it is easy to change the arrangement and add new things in.

A lot depends on how many spices you use and how much you use them. Some folks love the pullouts, but I wasn't sure they would hold enough for me, and if they did, only the front row is easy to reach. The jars laying down in a drawer would have taken several drawers -- maybe a full drawer stack. I put min in a drawer, but standing up with the labels on top. The best part is everything fits in one spot and that drawer is right there for both cooking and baking.

Mine fit snuggly enough that they don't shift, but some folks use magnets on the bottom with a metal sheet lining the drawer. Others use the cushioning grip drawer liner. I have also seen a couple with a wood sheet made to fit the drawer and circles cut to hold each jar (you can DIY with a circle saw bit on a drill). You could also use cork tiles, a foam core board -- lots of options, but do give yourself a little room for adding and subtracting a few bottles over time.

We recessed a 6" deep cabinet into the wall. It contains 4 adjustable shelves. All the spice jars stand upright. The cabinet also houses cooking oils, vinegar and any other cooking liquids or sprays.

Here's a picture.

That reminds me of the ironing board cabinet my grandmother had in her kitchen and I had in my first house. I think they are charming in older kitchens, but I have 3 doorways and only 3 walls in my kitchen. I didn't have wall space to consider that option.

Agree that it depends on how many spices you use. I find a shallow drawer near the stove works best for me since I don't use a lot. I keep my baking spices in a separate drawer near my peninsula prep area.

I bought a picture ledge from IKEA (Ribba) in a birch color that matches the interior of my cabinet. I've installed it halfway up the back of the lower shelf of the cabinet next to my stove. I keep my spices on it (perfect size for a standard spice jar) and there's room for oils and other items in front of the ledge.

What if all your spices don't come in containers that fit? I know a lot of mine do not. I find the various containers things come in, such as from an international market or ordered on line, interesting in themselves, and the gene that likes to fill little uniform jars from odd-shaped ones *that move on to another cabinet) skipped me and went to my daughter instead. I keep mine lying and standing as it suits me in 2 drawers by the stove.

Here are some creative ideas for spices.
~boxerpups

Whenever I see those pull outs beside the stove I always wonder. Does the heat from the stove warm them? I know you aren't supposed to keep spices (or oils) over the stove because of the heat. Do ovens not heat up on the sides?

(Well, really I could just go turn on my oven and feel the cabinet next to it, lol.)

I'd hate to get a great looking pullout and find out my spices are all prewarmed. I know my oven door gets hot, I guess I should feel the sides next time.

Mcmjilly, my spice situation is absolute chaos and your solution sounded very interesting! I googled "Ribba picture ledge" to try and better understand what you did, and this came up....

I think very few of us have an entire wall to devote to our spices (I don't have a single drawer to spare) but I thought I'd share with y'all because it is wowza!

I was very interested in this set up called a "wicket", or a door w/in a door that is hinged opposite from the door it is seated in. Love this book by Peter Lemos!!
http://books.google.com/books?id=omFAiSBAuEMC&pg=PA90&lpg=PA90&dq=wicket+door+lemos&source=bl&ots=o1tul_7y3Q&sig=sxncetBxS2kCUODh12NgzvUGxYg&hl=en&ei=MffVTeeeMeL00gHQ3cHSBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CBwQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false

Here is a link that might be useful: wicket door

I absolutely love my pullout. It accomodates a lot of spices and oils and vinegars and honey etc
The spices do not get warm in there
i have deliberately felt the inside of the wall and the bottles

When i start to cook i open it up, and close when I am finished.
love love love it

here it is open

and closed

Dayum...now THAT is a nice spice collection.

Clueless, I have that book as well and love it. My other favorite is Lyn Peterson's _Real Life Kitchens_. Along with my beloved Johnny Grey, of course!

Spices are best preserved away from heat, so I would not keep them in a cabinet next to the oven. (My friend keeps hers in the refrigerator! ) I like the idea of a spice drawer. All the jars are easily visible and accessible. If you have containers that do not fit, you can buy jars at Penzey's for your herbs and spices. I like buying my spices and herbs there in the smaller jars. They lose their optimum potency after about a year, so the small amounts work the best for me. My suggestion would be to keep your baking spices in a spice drawer in your baking area and the cooking herbs in your prep area.

Although generally I despise plastic, I had two Copco red pigeonhole spice racks side by side on my wall in old kitchen and haven't found anything better in modern kitchen products. I'm lucky that a friend has gifted me a pair of new-to-me white ones from her mom's old house (otherwise I was going to spray the red units with silver paint). The white goes well with my white sink, white refrig, white range, white mixer, and white light fixture globes. Because I don't have much of a backsplash, the undercab walls are available to do workhorse chores. I do have more spices in an upper cab--the least used ones, the reservoirs, the plastic bags of dried stuff from the garden, etc.

This Etsy price is surprisingly close to original price, which was a bit of a shocking "golly!" back in the 70s.

They came with stick-on black lettered label set.

Here is a link that might be useful: Copco vintage spice rack

If you buy spices in bulk or in different size containers, it is very easy and not that expensive to buy matching containers for everything. I did 110 jars and spent about $60. You can spend more or less, but it will probably be one of the least expensive functional changes you can make when redoing the kitchen. You can spend as much or more on racks.

I tried putting spices in two places -- one for cooking and one for baking, before we redid the kitchen. What I found was that the lines weren't that clear and I'd be walking around the island and across the kitchen. When we moved the cooktop, my baking area became that 4 feet between the ovens and the cooktop. My deeper drawers hold the baking supplies, but one of the top drawers is my spice drawer. I didn't want to overcrowd the utensil drawer next to it, so I decided to use a utensil crock. It's well worth it.

I have used Specialty Bottle for my spice jars, the tins and bottles for homemade extract. They have lots of different containers, good prices, good, dependable service.

Here is a link that might be useful: Specialty Bottle

my spice cabinet (buit by PO) I like that I don't have to bend to get the spices, I can leave them in their original bottles (I've not been able to make myself keep up with transferring to a different bottle), the most used spices are right in front, and I can store alot of different sizes of bottles including keeping the EVOO out of the light.

The two downsides that I can think of are that since you think pullouts might waste space, this whole cab is likely to be a waste to you as well but maybe just the swingout part would work for you. also, if you move fast in the kitchen ("Tarragon-- stat!!") and open the swingout too fast, the spices can fling themselves off of the shelf. hence the little bars on the back swingout shelves.

HTH

cheers

What about hanging spice racks on the door? I have seen some interesting ones.
We have 39 " tall cabinet doors. I just don't know whether I want to drill holes into the doors.

Husband is tall. He likes things high so all the pull out drawers/cab in the lower cabinets will not work. Also is not keen on the drawer idea since we are drawer shy right now. He suggested cluttering up the counter top. ugh!

Anyone attach racks to the inside of their doors? How did that work for you?

Racks on cabinet doors have to be made to fit into the cabinet and may mean having to decrease the depth of your cabinet shelves (it would in mine). I did a full length door rack before and it was farther from my cooking space that I would have liked (on the back of the pantry door) and only a couple of shelves are at eye level.

We are a tall family. The top drawer, just under your counter, is an easy height for tall and short people to reach -- no stretching and no bending, see everything at once.

When poking around for ideas a while ago I found this idea online. It is genius! I don't really need it but I love the concept. Tidy, yet creative and organic.

Here is a link that might be useful: magnetic spice rack idea

OMG, I lOVE the Kneiss Spice idea. I've been searching for just the right thing, and now I've found it! Thank you.

I use several Spice Stacks and I love them!

Here is a link that might be useful: Spice Stack

To answer azbookworm's question, yes, it is doable. When my mother redid her kitchen (probably 10 or so years ago now), she got one of her upper cabinets (about 33 or 36'' wide) with spice racks built into the doors. It was an option available with the cabinets. The shelves are only slightly less deep, as lascatx suggests, but not so much that she isn't able to cram a lot of stuff into that upper cabinet!

There are little bars about 1.5 inches up from each shelf to keep the spice bottles in place -- mtnfever, ROFLOL: "tarragon--STAT!!" My only complaint when we visit is that the space between the bar and the back of the cabinet door is very tight.

I looked for an example online and couldn't find one just like hers. Most seem to be add-ons that have their own back. Hers use the cabinet door itself as the back. We live across the country from each other or I would take a picture for you.

Boxerpups - Any idea what brand and stain is on the cabinets in the second photo you posted? The one with the black x design and black corbels? I love that stain and I am having trouble finding that color tone in an affordable cabinetry line.

Back to spices - I like alot of these ideas. I am planning a vitamin zone for my DH, so I'll be using at least one of these ideas. Bottles in all sizes... I think standing up in a drawer sounds handy.

I was amazed when I started totting things up to design the new cabinets... I need space for 40-50 jarred spices, and then extra room for bulk in bags and my masala dabba & other assorted spice blends for cooking Indian! My MIL uses a regular drawer for spice jars laying flat instead on in one of those tilted spice rack things, and it's much more efficient, but I love the idea of jars w/magnets and a metal plate in the bottom of the drawer! Easier to store them upright.

In my current kitchen I used a shoe rack over the back of the pantry door. Pretty good solution if you have a door back, and easy to keep them alphabetized. Although I'd guess that those with less of a spice problem don't worry too much about alphabetization. :) I seriously lost it when I counted them all up. And other than the epazote, I use all of them regularly!

I am going to get the stainless steel ledge from Potter Barn (search on stainless steel kitchen accessories)

BTW LaurenInTX epazote is no good dried anyway. Very easy to grow in the garden and excellent fresh.

How about in the hood vent......

Here is a link that might be useful: Zephyr Cache

This is our spice storage.

johnliu posted a great DIY solution made from storage containers sold in the hardware department, intended for organizing bolts, screws, etc. -- genius!

Here is a link that might be useful: Thread with Johnliu's spice storage

Wow some of those are amazing! We only had room for a spice drawer but since i enjoy cooking, i did two spice drawers on either side of my stove, so they are very convenient. Good luck in deciding...seems there are lots of great ideas here.

shanghaimom, Wowza is right!! And cluelessincolorado, I love that wicket door. So many great ideas here.

Mine is a pull out like the 1st picture boxer posted. There's nothing in it yet but it's good to know that they don't heat up.

A friend of mine, a scientist go figure, uses one like this.

also, if you move fast in the kitchen ("Tarragon-- stat!!" Great one mtnfever :)))

I ordered cabinet doors with spice racks built in. Actually have two cabinets with spice racks on both doors, and I use all of them. They flank my cooktop, so they're right where I use them most. You can store all sorts of small items there, such as yeast packets, small bags of seasonings, chocolate chips, etc; keeps little things from getting lost. Spices are readily visible and easy to reach. It does cut down on the depth of the back cabinet, but as you can see I still have room to put bottles 2-deep. Helps me keep things better organized and it holds a lot more than you realize. I love them!

Here is a link that might be useful:

I love my pull outs on either side of my cooktop. I keep seasonings for cooking on the right one and all my baking spices on the left. The baking zone is to the left of the cooking and it is very handy. There are deep drawers to the left of my baking spices. One holds my canisters of flour and sugar along with my big food processor and many measuring cups. The one under that holds mixing bowls, rolling pins and all my other misc. gadgets. My big KA sits on the counter in the corner, always ready for action.

The pullouts were made by my cabinet maker. They are adjustable, full extension, soft close and like the insides of all my cabinets are lined with easy to clean melamine.

About the third or fourth time I used this set up, I had one of those pure, joyful moments, realizing how much easier and faster it was to make something. It's fun not work any more.

Nancy

I've seen the type that goes on the door - rev-a-shelf maybe?